Abby & Ricki Visit Ina May's Midwife Farm

Ina May Gaskin is a well-known midwife and natural birth advocate. She has written many books about pregnancy and childbirth. She has a midwifery farm in Tennessee which has been set up specifically for women to birth their babies. Women come from all over the United States to give birth at the farm. They can come to the farm with their family near their due date and stay to give birth and rest afterward. The midwives there care for the mothers and babies, and in the event that a hospital birth is needed, they make the transfer smoothly to a nearby hospital.

In some states in the US Certified Professional Midwives and home births are illegal. Women from those states who want a home birth often choose to stay at Ina May's farm.

Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, creators of the documentary film, the Business of Being Born are working on their next film, and decided to visit Ina May's farm for part of their filming. Ina May's book Spiritual Midwifery was a great inspiration for the original film, and it's fitting that they are including her work in their next film. Abby documented their trip on the BOBB blog. Please take a moment to read; it's very interesting!